‘No Man’s Sky’ Trailers: ‘Guides To The Galaxy’ Showcases Key Pillars Of The Game

The No Man’s Sky trailers, titled “Guides to the Galaxy,” are a series of trailers put out over the last several weeks by Hello Games. The videos show the four general aspects of the game; exploring, fighting, trading, and surviving. The Inquisitr covered the first two trailers, “Explore” and “Fight,” last week.

As explained previously, the trailers are not actual guides, but visual demonstrations of what each element of gameplay will be like in the highly anticipated title. These visual representations will give players an idea of what they can expect.

This week will highlight “Trade” and “Survive,” the final two videos in the series.

Sony posted the No Man’s Sky “Trade” guide last Friday on their PlayStation YouTube account.

“Gather natural resources,” the trailer states.

Mineral and plant collection will be a big part of the game. Minerals are collected by blasting rocks and asteroids with your weapons. They can be collected in space and on planets. There are numerous types of resources, and all have their uses. Some are used to make upgrades to spacecraft and environmental suits. Materials that are not needed can be traded for other minerals and items.

In an interview with Polygon, game developer Sean Murray related how one of his testers became “a specific kind of mineral trader. All this person did in No Man’s Sky was visit ice planets — he had upgraded his suit’s thermal layer so it could withstand the bitter cold — and mine them for resources, then travel around the cosmos bartering for goods with those minerals.”

Natural resources are not the only tradable. There is equipment and “exotic items” that can be traded, as well. It appears that anything that is not needed for a particular player’s purposes can be sold or bartered for something else.

The “Trade Guide” trailer also says, “Every trade tells a story,” however, it remains unclear how this is so. The video does not exactly shed any light on what is meant by this statement. It could be implying that each person’s trade is a story that they “lived” while playing. As far as anyone knows, the game does not have any particular story to tell, except for the mysterious “lore” of the universe.

No Man’s Sky’s “Survive” trailer is the last in the series and was posted to YouTube yesterday.

One might say that survival is the primary pillar of the game. All of the other pillars — exploring, fighting, and trading — stem from survival.

The “Survive” guide trailer shows various “hostile environments.” Some planets are highly radioactive. Others are exceedingly hot or cold. Some planets do not have a breathable atmosphere. All of these environments require protection. Suits can be upgraded with various types of environmental protections. However, these protections are not without limits.

For example, if a player is visiting a planet with a toxic atmosphere, filters may be added to their suit, but over time these filters break down and need to be replaced or repaired using resources. So to “survive,” one must “explore” or “trade” to get the resources they need. Players may also have to barter for equipment, like thermal shields, to survive.

Another danger that the No Man’s Sky guide trailer shows comes from indigenous lifeforms. Each planet has a unique ecosystem with several species of plant and animal life. Some of these animals are dangerous. The video shows the player engaged in combat with various creatures and also with Sentinels. So again, to “survive,” one must “fight.”

While the game still may not be to every gamer’s tastes, it seems to have enough substance to keep players who are into survival games interested. The No Man’s Sky “Guides to the Galaxy” trailers collectively show that players must explore, fight, and trade to survive. Players can see if they have what it takes in a little less than two weeks. No Man’s Sky releases on Tuesday, August 9.